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Sports

Mater Dei Upsets Mira Costa Boys Volleyball's Bid for CIF Title

The matchup goes to five games, with the Monarchs taking the steam out of the Mustangs.

Mira Costa’s run in the boys volleyball playoffs came to a stunning end Saturday night.

Host Mater Dei used its superb play around the net to upset the top-seeded Mustangs in five games, 29-27, 20-25, 25-14, 18-25, 15-9, in the quarterfinals of CIF Division I playoffs.

Mira Costa simply got outplayed, as the Monarchs advanced to the semifinals, where they will meet Westlake, which upended Newport Harbor in another quarterfinal match Saturday night.

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“They played a great match," said Mira Costa co-head coach Sean Shoptaw, whose club’s only other loss was to Newport Harbor. "We played well for spurts but we just never got into a consistent rhythm and it showed. We never really had the consistency to play our game like we’ve been playing all year. Give them credit. They made life tough on us on every point.”

Mater Dei coach Adam Cutrell and his players reveled in the upset.

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“Huge,” Cutrell called the surprising victory by the Monarchs. “We knew we had a shot when we knew we had them here at home. We were so excited. The guys were just talking about it all weekend. They were so excited. We used the energy of the crowd and that helped us prevail.”

Mater Dei’s net play was a big reason for it. Mater Dei senior Zach La Cavera, who finished with a match-high 35 kills, and junior John Zappia, who delivered 15 more, overwhelmed the Mustangs and allowed Mater Dei to pull away in the final game.

A 7-1 run in the fifth game was the difference. La Cavera recorded three of his five kills in Mater Dei’s five final points to bounce Mira Costa (33-2), which had rolled through the Bay League unbeaten and was considered a favorite to advance to the CIF finals. His final kill clinched the match for Mater Dei (28-3), the No. 2 entry from the Trinity League.

“You get involved in games like that and it can go either way,” Shoptaw said. “That’s volleyball. It’s a tough deal, tough loss. It’s two good teams playing and that’s the way it goes.”

Things didn’t go Mira Costa’s way from the start and it became a pattern as the match wore on. Despite dictating much of the first game, the Mustangs fell apart near the end of it. They led until La Cavera scored a kill to give Mater Dei a 28-27 lead and Zappia added another one to capture the game.

From there, Mira Costa seemed to be fighting an uphill battle.

“They showed us by taking the first game they could play with us,” said Mira Costa middle blocker Karl Acres. “It seemed like we were playing from behind from there. We just thought we’d beat these guys easily. But after that first game, we knew we had to keep fighting, but we couldn’t seem to find any energy.”

The Mustangs did find some energy, winning the second game, 25-20, but Mater Dei bounced back by dominating the Mustangs in the third game. The Monarchs rolled to a 9-1 advantage before Mira Costa could mount a rally. Though the Mustangs cut the margin to six on several occasions, they couldn’t overcome the gap and lost the game, 25-14.

Mira Costa took the fourth game, 25-18, behind the play of Acres, who finished with 11 kills and two blocks, and outside hitter Christopher Orenic. But the Mustangs faded in the final game, leading to a disappointing end to their bid for a CIF title.

Senior outside hitter D.J. White led Mira Costa with 15 kills and four blocks.

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